Overview

Polsby and Wildavsky’s classic text, now updated by Stephen Schier and David Hopkins, argues that the institutional rules of the presidential nomination and election processes, in combination with the behavior of the mass electorate, structure the strategic choices faced by politicians in powerful and foreseeable ways. We can make sense of the decisions made by different political actors—incumbents, challengers, Democrats, Republicans, consultants, party officials, activists, delegates, journalists, and voters—by understanding the ways in which their world is organized by incentives, regulations, events, resources, customs, and opportunities. Thoroughly revised and updated, this Sixteenth Edition provides everything students need to know about presidential elections going into the 2024 cycle.

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9781538183717

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Presidential Elections: Strategies and Structures of American Politics is the gold standard for textbooks on U.S. presidential elections. The volume thoroughly covers critical pieces of the puzzle of presidential elections including money, different campaign actors, and rules. In addition, it delves into equally important topics that often receive less attention such as the strategic factors in campaigns that can mean winning or losing for a candidate. The up-to-date nature of the volume is also outstanding in covering new trends in topics like media and information flow as well as the changing nature of presidential primaries. In short, this book is a must for those looking for a complete understanding of presidential elections in the U.S..--David Dulio, Oakland University

Presidential Elections remains the classic text on the structure, history, and process of presidential campaign politics. It is unsurpassed in its coverage of the breadth of influences on elections and their roles in electoral history. This provides an excellent foundation for a better informed and more sophisticated perspective on our current electoral politics-particularly important in these hyper-polarized times.--James E. Campbell, University at Buffalo, State University of New York, author, Polarized: Making Sense of a Divided America This book is in its 16th edition for a reason. No book on presidential elections is better. The scholarly coverage is logically developed, complete, and joyfully readable. Everything students need to know about presidential elections is clearly presented with skillful use of informative figures, tables, and charts. I have used this classic textbook for decades. I will continue to use it because my students love this book.--Kenneth F. Warren, Saint Louis University Presidential Elections: Strategies and Structures of American Politics is the gold standard for textbooks on U.S. presidential elections. The volume thoroughly covers critical pieces of the puzzle of presidential elections including money, different campaign actors, and rules. In addition, it delves into equally important topics that often receive less attention such as the strategic factors in campaigns that can mean winning or losing for a candidate. The up-to-date nature of the volume is also outstanding in covering new trends in topics like media and information flow as well as the changing nature of presidential primaries. In short, this book is a must for those looking for a complete understanding of presidential elections in the U.S..--David Dulio, Oakland University

Author Information

Steven E. Schier is Dorothy H. and Edward C. Congdon Professor of Political Science Emeritus at Carleton College. He is the author or editor of 23 books including The Trump Effect: Disruption and Its Consequences in US Politics and Government and Polarized: The Rise of Ideology in American Politics, both with R&L. David A. Hopkins is associate professor of political science at Boston College. He is the author of Red Fighting Blue: How Geography and Electoral Rules Polarize American Politics (Cambridge University Press), and Asymmetric Politics: Ideological Republicans and Group Interest Democrats (Oxford University Press). His political analysis has appeared in the New York Times, Washington Post, and Vox, and he is a contributing columnist at Bloomberg Opinion. Nelson W. Polsby was Heller Professor of Political Science and past Director of the Institute of Governmental Studies at the University of California, Berkeley, where he taught American politics for forty years. Aaron Wildavsky was Class of 1940 Professor of Political Science and Public Policy at the University of California, Berkeley, and founding dean of Berkeley's Graduate (now Goldman) School of Public Policy.

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